Virtual Railfan Tour of Peru - Finale

 

The Nazca Lines

In 2000 the Peruvian government had started to privatize its railways and needed some advice on how to ensure that privatized lines ran safely.  I went to Lima as a volunteer for three weeks in March. I wrote a full diary account of this time which you can find at:
https://churcher.crcml.org/Diary/Diary_2000-03.html
During this time I did not see any train or railway.  I was kept pretty busy in the office but, in any case I had the impression that government did not want the railways to know too much about what I was doing.

Although there may not have been any trains, I had previously covered the country's railways in earlier visits, it was an amazing period and the last weekend was exceptional. I rented a taxi for a couple of days and went south, with another volunteer, to look at the Nazca lines.  I insisted that the taxi have a good serviceable spare tire which the driver proudly demonstrated before we left. 

The Nazca lines are lines drawn in the desert surface made by removing the dark rock to expose a yellow-white rock underneath. They were made some 1500 years ago and can only be viewed properly from the air.  This has created speculation as to their origin, possibly extra-terrestrial?
Some of the lines run for many miles, recent research has suggested that some run as far as into Bolivia





After seeing a parade of 30-40 brand new police cars, an attempt to gain votes, we visited a winery/distillery and stayed the night.

Next morning we went to the coast at Paracas and took a boat tour of the islands to see the bird life.

Paracas

Pelicans

There were some penguins here







This was a good way to end my travels in Peru

It was a busy, difficult, three weeks and I will end by quoting my diary comment about my final seminar in Lima:

"Just before the start of the seminar I went to the washroom. I was alone and as I looked at myself in the mirror I said out loud:

""You stupid bugger, what the hell are you doing down here when you could be taking it easy at home?"

"I actually used stronger language but it is a very good question and is the essence of what I have been doing in various obscure parts of South America for the last five years or so. I think the answer, if there is one, is:

"I'm not really sure, but it seemed like a good idea at the time and on looking back afterwards, it was fun.""






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